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Study: Romanian company leaders fear globalization, blame lack of efficiency on tough economy
Around half Romanian -owned company leaders think globalization will have a negative impact on their business in 2012, while among leaders of foreign companies, only 22 percent think globalization will cause harm, according to a recent study by local company Solutii Avansate and Griffiths School of Management. Three quarters of company managers in Romania blame [...]
Banking, IT, pharma bring highest wages in Romania
Employees of IT, banking and pharma companies have the highest wages in Romania, but the difference in salary between a middle position and top management is very high, according to recruitment company Trenkwalder. In Bucharest, the wages offered are 30 percent more than the national average, according to a statement from Trenkwalder. A software programmer-be [...]
Three trams collide, derail in Bucharest accident, at least 86 injured
Four trams collided on Thursday morning at Lujerului underground pass in Bucharest, leaving at least 35 passengers injured. Most of them sustained fractures and three of them, with head trauma, were rushed to the hospital. A tram broke down while in the Lujerului underground pass, and the following tram could not break in due time. [...]
Average wage up 3.3% year-on-year in March in Romania
The gross average wage in Romania was up by 3.3 percent in March this year compared to the same month of 2011, to some RON 2,126 (some EUR 487), according to data from the country’s Statistics Institute. Net nominal average earning was RON 1,543 (some EUR 353), up from previous month by 4.8 percent, the [...]
Report: Just before elections, Romanian media quality worsens, gets more prone to political meddling
Romanian media became even more prone to political interference in 2011, as several politicians or political advisers became media owners or managers, right before the 2012 elections year, according to a recent press freedom report issued by ActiveWatch. The report mentions Sebastian Lăzăroiu, Vasile Dâncu, Cosmin Guşă and Dan Andronic among those with political ties [...]
Romania joins international campaign against skin cancer in May
Romania will organize an information campaign on skin cancer throughout May, after the number of melanoma – or skin cancer cases went up four fold in the last 30 years, according to the Romanian Society of Dermatology. Approximately 130,000 melanomas occur globally and around 37,000 people die from melanoma each year. Stress, food, solar radiations, [...]
March unemployment rate slightly up in Romania, still comfortably below EU average
Romania’s unemployment rate reached 7.5 percent in March, up 0.4 percentage points from February and 0.5 percentage points higher than in March 2011, according to data from the country’s Statistics Institute. Romania had 735,000 unemployed people aged 15 to 74 in March this year, up from 706,000 in February and from 696,000 in March 2011. [...]
Romanians, still among less trustful in economy, more optimistic than French, Spanish, Hungarians
Romanians are still among the most pessimistic in the world when it comes to trusting their local economy, even though their perspective slightly improved in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the last quarter of 2011, according to a Nielsen study. Romania ranked 47th among the 56 countries included in the ranking, with trust [...]
Professional beggars and victims of organized crime spoil Romania’s image
A group of ten Romanians were arrested in Madrid last week for having used handicapped persons from Romania, forcing them to beg downtown Madrid. They had to work 12 hours a day and made EUR 80, according to the Federation of Romanian Associations in Europe (FADERE). However, the federation highlighted the fact that there are [...]
Study: Almost half of high school graduates in Romania are inactive, lack information to get jobs
Around 40 percent of Romania’s high school graduates and three quarters of young women over 19 are inactive, found a recent study. Their main sources of information when finding a job are their families and friends. The lack of information about potential jobs is a problem especially for young people in rural areas. Despite Romania’s [...]
EC wants to tackle historic high unemployment by lifting restrictions for Romanian workers and creating more jobs
The European Commission wants to take new measures to create new jobs by diminishing taxes on salaries, supporting new companies and lifting restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian workers, among others. “Restrictions on free labor market access to workers from Bulgaria and Romania are still maintained by nine member states, despite the overall positive impact that [...]
Number of pensioners to double and employee base to halve in 50 years in Romania
There will be twice as many Romanians aged over 65 in the next 50 years than today, and the number of those between 20 and 55 will halve during the same period, impacting the labor force and draining the public pension system, according to a new convergence program approved by the Romanian Government, quoted by [...]
Romanians over 65 expect few healthy years but hope to reach 80
Romanians over 65 think they will live a healthy life for five to six more years, while their life expectancy is of 14 to 17 years above that age, according to recent data form EU’s statistics office Eurostat. Romania is thus at the bottom of the chart on healthy life expectancy in Europe and in [...]
Romania ranks fourth in EU, with 350 abortions a day and lack of birth control education
With 100,000 to 120,000 abortions a year in the last couple of years, Romania ranks fourth in the European Union, while topping the EU chart on the ratio between births and abortions. This worrying figure was revealed by a study from the Institute of Public Policies, which found that on average, 350 to 400 abortions [...]
Study: High intentions to resign but few Romanians quitting jobs at present
Romanians, who mainly appreciate fixed income and short term income prospects, are demotivated by the poor economic situation, but few actually decide to leave their jobs, in spite of high intentions to do so, according to a Mercer study. Around 95 percent of the Romanian employees receive annual performance bonuses, while 50 percent receive monthly [...]
Hungarian minority wants Magyar to become official regional language in Romania in 20 years
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) hopes to make Magyar, the Hungarian language, an official regional language in Romania in the next 20 years, according to Kovacs Peter, secretary general of UDMR. To achieve this target, Hungarian politicians in Romania would need a change in the Constitution and the support of Romanian politicians. [...]
Romania trains 1 million with EU funding for HR development
Over one million Romanians have been trained with EU funding so far, part of the EUR 4.2 billion program that allows Romania to develop its human resources. The POSDRU program thus achieved 64 percent of its target for the 2007-2013 period. The EU fund absorption rate for HR funding was of 5.5 percent. Employees, unemployed [...]
Romanian vaccine producer Cantacuzino Institute on the verge of collapse, employees demand manager’s dismissal
Romania’s Cantacuzino Institute, one of the seven European producers of flu vaccine, is in danger of being completely shut down. The Institute has struggled to survive in recent years, and has reached a point where all its vial production lines have closed down, standing in need of authorizations from the National Drug Administration. Union members [...]
Study: Romanians who gave up buying due to lack of money are willing to re-start spending
Most Romanians abandoned personal projects in recent years because of financial constraints, but are willing to spend again to keep up their living standards, according to a recent study by Cetelem. Almost 90 percent of Romanians see themselves spending again, while 25 percent are willing to put money aside, up from just 14 percent last [...]
Study: 8,700 children still live in the placement centers in Romania
Some 8,700 children still live in the placement centers audited by Romanian NGO Homes and Hope for Children (HHC), and, although the majority of children in care are with families or in family style environments, there are big differences between regions. In Braila, Giurgiu and Teleorman counties all the old style placement centers have closed, [...]
Amnesty: Europe’s Roma are still poverty striken, persecuted, outcast in Romania and beyond
Rights for Romani people is an issue Romania cannot escape, with one of the largest Roma populations in Europe, and one of the highest percentages of population of Roma ethnicity, the challenges faced by Romania are bigger and more pertinent than elsewhere. Timed to coincide with International Romani Day on April 8, human rights campaign [...]
Average salary in Romania, almost flat in February, biggest rise in tobacco industry
The average net salary gain in Romania was up a mere 0.3 percent in February on the previous month, to some RON 1,472 (around EUR 340). The highest salaries were paid in the tobacco industry – some RON 4,489 (or around EUR 1,027), while the lowest, in the hotels and restaurants industry – some RON [...]
Sexual orientation, wealth, ethnicity, among major discrimination criteria in Romania
Romanians discriminate on various criteria, from gender to sexual orientation, wealth and ethnicity. A recent report issued by the National Council for the Fight Against Discrimination found that 31 percent of Romanians would not feel comfortable in the vicinity of a homosexual, while 22 percent discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS. Around 15 percent of the [...]
Third consecutive monthly fall in unemployment in Romania, defying European trend
Unemployment in Romania fell again in February, for the third consecutive month, going against the trend in the EU and the eurozone, where unemployment rose. A further 0.1 percentage points reduction in unemployment was recorded for February in Romania, leaving 7.1 percent of Romanians out of work, according to EU statistics wing, Eurostat. The results [...]
Romanian trust in the EU falls to record low, but still exceeds Italy’s and Spain’s
Fewer Romanians trust the European Union, with only 46 percent of respondents to a study saying they trust the direction the EU goes in, according to a recent eurobarometer. This is the lowest level of trust for the EU in Romania, down 14 percentage points in 2010 and also well down from an 85 percent [...]
Romania strikes gold, silver and bronze at European Gymnastics Championship, wins title after four years 
‘Magic mentalist’ wins ‘Romania’s got talent’ competition after flat-lining during live show 
Three trams collide, derail in Bucharest accident, at least 86 injured 
‘The Avengers’ epic movie almost covers production costs with first week-end box office revenues 
Athletic Bilbao files official complaint over Bucharest airport delays after Europa League final 
Wajiha Haris, Scheherazade Foundation president: “No” is never an option 
Romania’s Education Minister accused of having plagiarized three international research papers 
German STEAG buys wind farm from Romanian Monsson, plans EUR 200 mln investments 
Romanian actor Serban Ionescu left bed bound after catching Lyme’s disease from tick bite 
S Immo to put EUR 66 mln into The Mark – Bucharest office building with intelligent facade
